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Retired Navy SEAL speech highlights NMSU Pride Season

Pride Season at New Mexico State University kicks off Wednesday, March 15, with a free concert at the Corbett Center Student Union Patio, near Taos Restaurant.

Artist Zach Blas is pictured here with his 2015 design, Face Cage #1. Blas and his artwork will be at the Corbett Center Student Union Auditorium March 27 as part of New Mexico State University?s Pride Season events. (Photo by Christopher O?Leary)

The celebration continues with artwork, a speech by former Navy SEAL and transgender woman Kristin Beck, a drag show, a health screening and a graduation ceremony.

With the exception of the Rainbow Graduation, all events are free. The graduation is only free to graduates.

Zooey Sophia Pook, diversity officer with LGBT+ Programs at NMSU, said this year?s joint effort among campus groups is unparalleled.

?The collaboration with students, groups and departments on campus has been amazing,? Pook said. ?With Military and Veterans Programs bringing in Kristin Beck, and with the Creative Research Center helping with Zach Blas, we?re able to serve a broad background of NMSU students and the community.?

Pride season starts March 15 with a free outdoor concert with Mike Maven and lunch provided by Sodexo.

Zach Blas? artwork will be on display, and he?ll give a talk March 27. Blas is a lecturer in the University of London Goldsmiths Department of Visual Cultures. His recent works were created in response to technological control, biometric governmentality and network hegemony. His ?Facial Weaponization Suite? exhibit features masks that cannot be detected as human faces by biometric facial recognition software.

Transgender retired Navy SEAL Team 6 member Kristin Beck is the keynote speaker March 29. Beck served in the Navy for 20 years and retired in 2011 with the rank of senior chief. She came out publicly as a transgender woman in 2013. The documentary ?Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story? was released in 2014.

?The goal of Pride Season is definitely to promote diversity and inclusion, as well as to create a successful environment for all students, staff and faculty,? Pook said.

LGBT+ Programs was created to provide a safe place on campus for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual and queer community and those who support them.

Events are made possible with support from AgGays, Gender Diverse Aggies, Milagro Coffee Y Espresso, NMSU Creative Research Center, NMSU English Department, NMSU Military and Veterans Programs, NMSU Young Greens and Sodexo.

For more information about Pride Season events, call LGBT+ Programs at 575-646-7031 or email lgbt@nmsu.edu.